The Buddha Addressing Yamaraja at Kusinagara€¦ · Magnificent and Virtuous Golden Wheel Buddha-head, Tejaprabha Tathagata, Who Dispels All Disasters and Calamities12 that it does

Freer Gallery of Art

Completed: 27 October 2007 F1926.1 Updated: 26 August 2009 (format/bibliography)

1

Artist: Anonymous

Title: The Buddha Addressing Yamaraja at Kusinagara

《釋迦牟尼佛會圖》

Shijiamuni fohui tu

Dynasty/Date: Later Kingdom of Dali1, 12th–13th century

Format: Handscroll

Medium: Ink, color, and gold on paper

Dimensions: 28 x 52.4 cm (11 x 20–5/8 in)

Credit line: Purchase

Accession no.: F1926.1

Provenance: Yamanaka and Company, New York

Object description: Severe damage to central portion of painting. Attached sutra text (opening

section), also exhibits damage. Eighteen colophons: the first eight with varying degress of

damage, from severe to minor to none; acompanied by twenty-one (21) calligrapher seals. No

collector seals. Jade fastening pin. Blank frontispiece.

Fastening pin:

Green jade with exterior carving and no text

Frontispiece: Tan paper, blank

Dimensions: 28.5 x 61.2 cm

Painting captions: (2) – Anonymous

1. Painting, right cartouche (damaged)

1 column, standard script.



2

[為][陳]觀音慶、婦人文[殊]連、男慶福造

Created [for ][Chen] Guanyin Qing, his wife Wen[shu] Lian, and son Qingfu2

2. Painting, left cartouche.

1 column, standard script.

南無滅札報釋迦牟尼佛會

Assembly of the Blessed Sakyamuni Buddha Who Extinguishes Just Rewards3

Sutra text: Anonymous. Damaged. Opening section of the self-titled Feng Yanluowang yuxiu

shengqi wangsheng jingtu jing 《諷閻羅王預修生七往生淨土經》 (Sutra Intoned to King

Yanluo [Yamaraja] to be Cultivated in Preparation for the Sevens of Life and Rebirth in the Pure

Land).4 The section includes three encomia (zan 讚), each consisting of a quatrain in 7-character

lines; above each poem is a roundel painted in color with the figure of a meditating Buddha

(second roundel largely effaced). Several characters, especially at the beginning of the text, are

missing due to damage; these characters appear in the transcription below in brackets [ ].

One sheet of tan paper. Dimensions: 28 x 53 cm

29 columns, standard script. [Not translated.]5

[謹啟《諷閻羅王預修生七往生淨土經》] 誓勸有緣，以五會啟經入讚。

念阿弥陁佛。

[成]都府大慈孝沙門藏川述讚。



3

《[佛說閻羅]王授記四眾逆修生七往生淨土經》

南無阿弥陁佛。讚曰:

如來臨般涅槃 6 時，廣召天霊及地祇，因為琰魔王授記，乃傳生七預修

儀。

如是我聞，一時佛在鳩尸那城，阿維羅跋提河邊，娑羅雙樹間，臨般涅槃時，舉身放光，

普照大眾，及諸菩薩摩訶薩、天龍神王、天主帝釋、四天大王、大梵天王、阿[脩]羅王、

諸大[國]王、閻羅天子、太山府君、司命司[祿]、五[道]大神、地獄官典，悉來集[會]，敬

礼世尊，合掌而立。

讚曰:

[時佛]舒光滿大千，普臻龍鬼會人天，釋梵諸天冥 7 密眾，咸來稽首世尊

前。

佛告諸大眾，閻羅天子於未來世，當得作佛，号曰普賢王如來，十号具足，國土嚴淨，百

寶莊嚴，國名花嚴，菩薩充滿。讚曰:



4

世尊此日記閻羅，不久當来 8 證佛陁，莊嚴寶國常清淨，菩薩修行眾甚

多。

尒時阿難白佛言 :『世尊，閻羅天子，以何因緣，處斷冥間，復於此會，便得授於當來果記

？』佛言 : 『於彼冥途，為諸王者，有二因緣。一是住不思議解脫不動地菩薩，為欲攝化

極苦眾生，示[現作]彼琰魔等王。二為多生習善為犯戒故，退落琰魔天中，作大魔王，管

攝諸鬼，科斷閻浮提內，十惡五逆，一切罪人，繫閇牢獄，日…』。

Colophons: (18) — The first eight colophons have suffered varying degress of damage, and are

mounted as fragments on two separately mounted sheets of paper; dated texts range between 1789

and 1837.9 The following ten colophons were written directly on three-plus sheets of paper,

continuously mounted; dated texts range between 1902 and 1914.10

Sheet 1: Separately mounted. Colophons 1–5.


1. Unidentified — damaged11

6 columns, standard script (much damage, especially columns 5–6, which are

reonstructed below. Where known, missing characters are supplied in brackets [ ].)



5

《三藏聖[敎目]錄》無《十王預脩經》，而之字函有《大威德金輪佛頂熾盛光如來消除一切

災難陀羅尼經》，亦與此不同，殆是時世俗所傳本耳。然畫家神姦詭譎，能使閱者恐怖

毛豎，蓋「十習發業為因，因必趨果，故[感地獄種種苦具，且] 始由[妄想] ，融涉[六] 根

，故受報亦六根…」。

The Catalogue of the Sacred Teachings in the Tripitaka contains no Sutra to be Cultivated in

Preparation for [Judgement by] the Ten Kings, and the [text of the] Dharani Sutra of the

Magnificent and Virtuous Golden Wheel Buddha-head, Tejaprabha Tathagata, Who Dispels All

Disasters and Calamities12 that it does contain, is also not the same as [the one here], so I’m

afraid that these are [non-canonical sutras] which have circulated for ages among the common

people. Nevertheless, [by depicting the punishments of] wicked and perfidious [persons] the

painter was able to so frighten the viewer that his hair stands on end, for ―the Ten Habits13

produce karma and create causality, and cause must lead to effect, therefore [one is affected by

the various instruments of hellish torture; and] since [these habits] derive from [erroneous

thinking] and are transmuted through the [Six] Sense Organs,14 one therefore also receives

punishment [by means of] the Six Sense Organs…‖15

Signature: none

Date: none

Seals: none



6

2. Weng Fanggang 翁方綱 (1733–1818)16 — damaged

3 columns, standard script

□□□□□ [為]□作□，皆唐以前人書如此。雖無年月可考，然以字畫驗之，則西堂跋中所云「

唐末人畫者，即不必定属朱繇，亦當相去不遠矣」。恐閱[者]疑之，附記於此。方綱又書

。

…, were all written the way people did before the Tang dynasty. Although no date can be

determined, if one examines how the calligraphy and paintings are executed, then it is as Xitang

[You Tong, 1618–1704] says in his colophon, ―they were painted by someone at the end of the

Tang dynasty, and while they need not be attributed to Zhu You [early 10th century], it shouldn’t

be by anyone too distant from him either.‖17 Fearing that viewers may be suspicious [of them], I

have appended this statement here [in support]. Written by Weng Fanggang.

Signature: 方綱

Fanggang

Date:

none

Seals: (2)

Fanggang『方綱』(square relief)

Tanxi『覃溪』(square relief)



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3. Wu Zhao 吳照 (1755–1811) — damaged


[嘉慶]五年九月三日，陽城張敦仁、南城吳照、宜興陳應熊，同游開先孝，敦仁攜男秶采，

應熊攜男純敬觀。

On the third day of the ninth lunar month in the fifth year [of the Jiaqing reign period] [October

20, 1800], Zhang Dunli [1755–1833] from Yangcheng, Wu Zhao [1755–1811] from Nancheng,

and Chen Yingxiong from Yixing, visited Kaixian Temple [on Mount Lu, Jiangxi Province], and

respectfully viewed [this scroll] together with Dunli’s sons, Zi and Cai [?], and Yingxiong’s son,

Chun, whom they brought along.18

Signature: none

Date: [嘉慶]五年九月三日

Third day of the ninth lunar month in the fifth year [of the Jiaqing reign

period] [October 20, 1800]

Seals: (1)

Wu Zhao zhi yin『吳照之印』(square intaglio)



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4a-b. Xie Qikun 謝啟昆 (1737–1802) — damaged

a.) 3 columns, standard script

[己酉]閏五[月]朔日，南康謝啟昆偕南昌萬縉、進賢馮來儀、大兒學增，重觀于鹿洞書院之

春風樓，啟昆又記。

First day of the intercalary fifth [lunar-month] in the [jiyou?] year [June 23, 1789?],19 viewed

again at the Spring Wind Pavilion of Deer Cave Academy [on Mount Lu] by Xie Qikun from

Nankang, together with Wan Jin from Nanchang, Feng Laiyi from Jinxian, and his big brother

Xuezeng,. Additionally recorded by [Xie] Qikun.

Signature: 啟昆

Qikun

Date:

[己酉?]閏五[月]朔日

First day of the intercalary fifth lunar-month [in the jiyou year?][June 23,

1789?]

Seals: (1)

Xie Qikun yin『謝啟昆印』(square intaglio)

b.) Remnants of three characters from a longer text — damaged

Seals: (2) – both missing all, or most of, right side



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□Qikun □『□啟昆□』(square intaglio)

Xuancheng taishou『宣城太孚』(square relief)

5. Wu Rongguang 吳榮光 (1773–1843) — damaged


□□漫堂中丞布施此卷之一百二十七年，道光紀元歲在辛巳三月十二日，南海吳榮光敬觀於

開先孝。願一切眾生，同登善地。

In the one-hundred-and-twenty-seventh year since Governor Mantang [Song Lao, 1634–1713]

donated this scroll, on the twelfth day of the third lunar month, with the year-star in xinsi, first

year of the Daoguang reign period [April 13, 1821], respectfully viewed at Kaixian Temple by

Wu Rongguang from Nanhai.20 May all living beings ascend to the Good Land.

Signature:

吳榮光

Wu Rongguang

Date:

道光紀元歲在辛巳三月十二日

Twelfth day of the third lunar month, with the year-star in xinsi, first year

of the Daoguang reign period [April 13, 1821]

Seals: (1)



10

Borong『伯榮』(square intaglio)

Sheet 2: Separately mounted. Colophons 6–8.


6. Zheng Zuchen 鄭祖琛 (died 1858)


遊[秀]峰觀瀑布，出此卷。已漫漶，因重裝之并識。歸孜鄭祖琛。

Traveling to [Xiu] Peak [on Mount Lu] to view the waterfall, I was shown this scroll. As it was

already severely damaged, I had it remounted and have recorded [the fact]. Zheng Zuchen from

Gui’an.

Signature: 鄭祖琛

Zheng Zuchen

Date: none

Seals: (1) – damaged upper right

Zheng Zuchen yin『鄭[祖]琛印』(square intaglio)

7. Zhang X-liang (?) 張□亮(?) (unidentified, 19th century) – damaged



11

Two columns, standard script

道[光]丁酉五月三日，建寧張□[亮?]來游匡廬觀青玉…

On the third day of the fifth lunar month in the dingyou year of the Dao[guang] reign period

[June 5, 1837], Zhang X-liang from Jianning came on a trip to Kuanglu [Mount Lu] to view

Green Jade…

Signature:

none

Date:

道[光]丁酉五月三日

Third day of the fifth lunar month in the dingyou year of the Daoguang

reign period [June 5, 1837]

Seals: none

8a–b. Unidentified (19th century) — damaged

a. Thirteen columns (only six undamaged), standard script

禪堂五月風冷冷，來觀圖畫兼寫經，經寫兩卷共一軸，□□□□□□□， □□□□□□□，

□□□□□□□，□□□□□□□，□□□□□□□， □□□□□□□，空留翰墨兼丹青，□□□□□□□，持贈心

公幾[帄]21 百齡，披圖能使髮□□，詠經□□□□□，此□□□搜秘藏，□□□□歸窈冥， □□□用辨唐



12

宋，慧明靜攝常惺惺，地獄豈為我輦設，聖諦難與凡人聆，世界閻浮池上影，三□夜語風

中鈴，卷軸歛函兩花散，但見古佛登熒熒，福如微塵孽如海，十地黑風吹血腥，金胄瑯璫

雜桎梏，夜叉鬼伯紛拘囹，亦有簿書逞鉤距，旁列府孝分宮庭，大鐵圍山口萬里，琰□□□

無常刑，惝怳虛無□□□，陰陽□闢通精□，如是我聞經中說，假以圖像尤丁寧，一圖一偈當

棒喝，想見濡毫甘露瓶，鬼神情狀太刻劃，須防白晝追六丁…

[Poem not translated.]

Signature: none

Date: none

Seals: none

b. Remnants of a few undecipherable large strokes — damaged

Sheet 3: Continuously mounted. Colophons 9–11.


9. Duanfang 端方 (1861–1911)

11 columns, running-standard script.



13

Two poems (4x7), and postscript.

喜向蓮花結淨因，千年幾見市朝新，神焦鬼爛金容在，妙湛依然說法人。辨鴃真宜補舊編

，梵書滿半儘喧闐，筆端舍利餘唐法，消得荃蘼一穗煙。

光緒壬寅札月，易子石父攜廬山開先孝唐人《地獄變相圖》並寫經殘字見示，留觀閱月，

敬題兩截句歸之。浭陽端方記。

[Poems not translated.] First month of the renyin year in the Guangxu reign period [February 8–

March 9, 1902], Master Yi Shifu [Yi Shunding, 1858–1920] brought along the Transformation

Images [of Souls] in Hell by a Tang dynasty artist and [its accompanying] damaged sutra

manuscript from Kaixian Temple on Mount Lu to show me.22 Having kept and examined [the

scroll] for a month, I have respectfully inscribed it with two quatrains and sent it back. Recorded

by Duanfang from Bianyang.

Signature: 端方

Duanfang

Date:

光緒壬寅札月

First month of the renyin year in the Guangxu reign period [February 8–

March 9, 1902]

Seals: (1)

Duanfang siyin『端方私印』(square intaglio)



14

10. Yang Shoujing 楊孚敬 (1839–1915)

27 columns, running script.

右唐人寫經殘卷，舊為宋漫堂布施於廬山開先孝者，今為易子石甫所得，為蟲所蝕，首尾

不具，蓋俗僧不知愛惜，石甫從破櫝中搜出者。第三行題『成都府大慈孝沙門藏川述讚』

；第四行首缺四字，下有『《….王授記四眾逆脩生七往生淨土經》』。按《新唐志》『至

德二年，改蜀郡為成都府』，曹學佺《名勝志》引《通志》云『大慈孝，唐至德年建』，

是此卷當作於唐之中業；而僧贊寧《高僧傳》不載藏川之名，宋、元、明三佛藏及高麗藏

，皆不錄此經，是則此為佛經逸篇，札未知天竺尚有梵筴否也。據翁覃溪跋稱漫堂題為『

唐末人書，即不必定属朱繇，當亦相去不遠』，余按朱繇為朱梁時人，《圖畫見聞志》稱

其『工畫佛道，酷類吳生』。此卷有《釋迦牟尼佛會圖》，殊為精妙，因以附會之，但其

兩籤題與後文經讚，實為一手書，筆法生峭，脫胎柳誠懸。今存房山唐石刻，已趨甜熟，

無此風格，何論朱梁？所惜中上古寫佛經，散佚於兵燹。今世所存墨本第有《靈飛》、《

兜沙》、《鬱草越》、《轉輪王》等經，而《靈飛》最著。袁清容直目為鍾紹京書，不知

紹京題《昇以太子碑》陰，在武后聖歷二年，《靈飛》寫於開元二十六年，時代隔越，何

能相擬？余所見日本東大孝、高山孝、法隆孝所藏古經，黃麻堅紉的為唐人書者，不下數



15

千卷，可謂『目不周玩，情不給賞』者，而皆無書者姓名[余所得亦數十卷，亦無書人名]，札不

必指為某名人之筆而後足珎也。余嘗謂唐人寫經，在當時不過傭書者流，未必與於書家品

騭。至今日則有極天下之選，盡一生之聰明才力，尚不能追其格度。古今人不相及，所為

有『世道升降』之嘅也。光緒乙巳仲冬十有二日，宜都楊孚敬記於鄂城菊灣。

At right is the damaged scroll of a Tang dynasty sutra manuscript that formerly was donated by

Song Mantang [Song Lao, 1634–1713] to the Kaixian Temple on Mount Lu, and has now been

acquired by Master Yi Shifu [Yi Shunding, 1858–1920]. [The scroll] had been eaten by insects

and its [painted] frontispiece is incomplete. As the common monks [at the temple] did not know

how to care for it, Shifu salvaged it from its broken covers. The third column of [the sutra] text

reads,

―Narrative and encomia by the sramana Cangchuan of Great Compassion Temple in Chengdu

Prefecture;‖23 while the fourth column is missing four characters at the beginning and then reads,

“Sutra…to the Four Orders of Disciples on the Prophecy Given to King…Concerning the Sevens

of Life to be Cultivated in Preparation for Rebirth in the Pure Land.” According to the Xin Tang

shu (New History of the Tang dynasty), ―In the second year of the Zhide reign period [757], [the

name of] Shu Commandery was changed to Chengdu Prefecture,‖24 while Cao Xuequan [1574–

1646] in his ―Record of Famous Sites‖ quotes the Tong shi [Comprehensive History] as saying,

―Great Compassion Temple was constructed during the Zhide reign period [756–58],‖25 so this

scroll must have been made during the middle period of the Tang dynasty. Yet the Gaoseng zhuan

[Lives of Eminent Monks] by the monk Zanning [919–1001] does not record the name of

Cangchuan, and neither do any of the three Buddhist Canons compiled during the Song, Yuan,

and



16

Ming dynasties, nor the Korean Buddhist Canon, record this sutra, so this must be a lost text of

Buddhist scripture, though I do not know if there is still such a Sanskrit sutra in India or not.

Regarding the colophon by Weng Tanqi [Weng Fanggang, 1733–1818], where he states that

Mantang’s26 inscription says, ―It was written by someone at the end of the Tang dynasty, and

while it need not be attributed to Zhu You, it shouldn’t be by anyone too far from him either,‖ I

note that Zhu You was a man of the Zhu-Liang dynasty [907–923],27 and the Tuhua jianwen zhi

praised him as ―skilled at Buddhist and Daoist subjects, very much like Master Wu [Daozi,

active ca. 710– 760].‖28 This scroll includes a Picture of an Assembly of the Blessed Sakyamuni

Buddha Who Extinguishes Just Rewards, which was appended because of its particularly

exquisite qualities; however, the inscriptions in the two cartouches [on the painting] were actually

written by the same hand as the texts of the sutra and encomia that follow. The calligraphy is

quite vigorous and derives from [that of] Liu Chengxuan [Liu Gongquan, 778–865]. Now the

stone inscriptions [of the Buddhist Canon] from the Tang dynasty preserved on Mount Fang [in

Hebei Province]29 already exhibit full [technical] maturity and do not at all possess the style [of

writing seen here], so how can one speak of the [much later] Zhu-Liang dynasty? Regretably,

[most of] the Buddhist sutras written during middle antiquity have been lost to fire and sword, and

of those originals that do survive in the world today, such as the Lingfei, Dousha, Yucaoyue [?],

Zhuanlunwang, and other sutras, [the calligrapy of] the Lingfei is the very best. Yuan Qingrong

[Yuan Jue, 1266–1327] held the view that it was written by Zhong Shaojing [active 680–730s],30

but he didn’t know that Shaojing inscribed the reverse side of the Stele of the Heir Apparent

Becoming an Immortal in the second year of the Shengli reign period of Empress Wu [699], while

the Lingfei [sutra] was written during the twenty-sixth year of the Kaiyuan reign period [738].

With [the writing of these two texts] being so far apart in time, how could they resemble each

other? Of the ancient sutras that I have seen in the collections of the Tōdaiji, Kōzanji, and Hōryūji

in Japan, those that were written by Tang dynasty individuals on tough but pliable jute [paper]

number no fewer than several thousand scrolls, which one may say are ―too many to see and too

much to enjoy,‖31 yet none of them bear the names of those who wrote them (and the several



17

dozen scrolls that I have collected also bear no writers’ names), which exactly [goes to show] that

one should not [consider a calligraphy] worth treasuring only if it has been assigned to the brush

of someone famous. I have said that, at the time, sutra writers in the Tang were nothing more than

a class of commercial scribes, and [their works] certainly do not come up to those by [true]

calligraphers. But today, even if one could choose [among sutras written during the Tang] from

absolutely everywhere in the world and devote all of one’s intelligence and talent [to their study]

for a lifetime, one would still not be able to trace [the evolution of] their rules of composition. The

fact that calligraphers from past to present cannot equal [them], is a cause for bemoaning ―the

vicissitudes of the world.‖32 Twelfth day of the mid-winter [eleventh] lunar month in the yisi year

of the Guangxu reign period

[December 8, 1905], recorded by Yang Shoujing of Yidu at Chrysanthemum Cove in Echeng

[Hubei Province]

Signature: 楊孚敬

Yang Shoujing

Date:

光緒乙巳仲冬十有二日

Twelfth day of the mid-winter [eleventh] lunar month in the yisi year of

the Guangxu reign period [December 8, 1905]

Seals: (2)

Yang Shoujing yin『楊孚敬印』(square intaglio)

Xingwu shending『惺吾審定』(square intaglio)

11. Zhou Yun 周雲 (late 19th–early 20th century)



18

18 ruled columns, standard script.

Poem (46x7)

吳生之畫不可見，每讀坡詩起百旋，黿頭鬼伯挑森森，冥目試思舌猶舚，湘西詞客出殘紙

，云自廬山得真面，披圖未竟行遠牀，兩手自接鼻火煔，蓮臺瓔珞莊且嚴，豎指不言蓄萬

變，趪趪甲胄恣武猛，摧魔金杵鏌邪□33，群真四五韜天倪，胡事睢盱中目閃，座前長跽衣

冠人，有懷欲吐肅然偭，

但瞻偃蹇雲天□34，何從俯手挽昏墊，□35 髽侍者獰孚階，相對喁喁植寶扇，其語維何聞末

由，似誚乞憐貢婉孌，無心雙鶴閒自飛，騰翥長空月灩灩，畫師試審何時人，北帄學士李

唐劵，寫經字迹亦清勁，謂過房山慮或忝，西陂捨去百年藏，蕭翼來游匹馬□36，重入文壇

親墨賓，不向間房乞僧飯，天墋地黷千萬秋，黃土屢經曝霪傳，面皃依然心已非，城塹深

阻孰闚□37，侈然高踞矜光儀，纓組鳶鴟襲彪贙，雍門淒激孜不思，泥犁楚毒幾曾念，但知

盛氣噓喑鳴，摩搦機牙疾風電，一朝漏盡泣何及，大銷琅璫溺殘爓，我思此軸休蔽藏，張

之九馗俾彼□38。

中實五兄有道属題即札。周雲。

[Poem not translated.] Inscribed at the request of fifth elder-brother Zhongshi [Yi Shunding] for

him to correct, Zhou Yun.



19

Signature: 周雲

Zhou Yun

Date: none

Seals: (2)

Yun『雲』(circle intaglio)

Shichenfu『世臣父』(rectangle relief)

Sheet 4: Continuously mounted. Colophons 12–14.


12. Li Baogan 李寶淦 (1864–1919)

22 columns, standard script.

Poem (48x7)

唐賢妙墨工寫經，碑幢石刻多垂型，千年真蹟誰得見，傳世寥落如晨星。畫師閻吳推聖手

，地獄變相通幽冥，不知何人得秘奧，摹繪萬鬼窮殊形。泥犁懺悔出千劫，慈悲還許瞻天

廷，莊嚴我佛現妙相，低眉跌坐神娉娉。舒兜羅綿五輪指，誨敕大眾宜叮嚀，神祇會合大

歡喜，旁侍曼麗環中庭。五香瓔珞耀金甲，鐃鉢劍杖精光熒，亦有努目狀武猛，威稜猶懾



20

千雷霆。妖腰亂領盡消滅，筏渡孽誨超昏暝，峨冠長跽手合十，似乞富貴兼長齡。又有鬼

隸貌獰陋，植扇耦立當階屏，頻伽雙翔或閑步，寶月騰燄升重溟。放大光明照六道，華香

上感諸天靈，地塽天腥群籟寂，閻浮提樹風冷冷。是真是幻是夢想，善因惡果了可聽，商

邱漫叟盛施捨，廬山山孝歸禪扄。金容慘澹失呵護，神鬼焦爛然飄零，名賢跋詠累數紙，

狼籍并漬蝸涎腥。先生假手蓋有以，返璧高義神其聆，殘餘裝弆煥精采，留此警發迷途醒

。龍眠不作兩峰死，踟蹰展翫空惺惺，盥手焚香發膜唄，林風颯沓寒燈青。

李寶淦自注第四十二句: 「原卷裝潢後，仍歸開先孝」。

丁未嘉帄五日，題奉中實先生教札，李寶淦。

[Poem not translated.] Fifth day of the jiaping [twelfth] lunar month in the dingwei year [January

8, 1908], inscribed to receive the instruction and correction of Mister Zhongshi [Yi Shunding] by

Li Baogan.

Signature: 李寶淦

Li Baogan

Date:

丁未嘉帄五日

Fifth day of the jiaping (twelfth) lunar month in the dingwei year [January

8, 1908]

Seals: (2)



21

Wangu yixiang『萬古遺香』(rectangle relief) – top right

Hantang『漢堂』(square relief) – bottom left

13. Guo Baoheng 郭寶珩 (active late 19th–early 20th century)

23 columns, running standard script.

Poem (58x7)

開先瀑布長如虹，中有靈物光熊熊，道元不作立本死，誰歟寫此孱提容，西陂尚書夙妮古

，護惜不啻通侯封，私家著錄懼速朽，留此永鎮招提宮，惜哉瞿曇不好事，緗帙盡付枯蟫

攻，青螺黯黮法雲冷，割截身體神其恫，眉伽先生有佛慧，自矜奇遇非人功，發緘示我畫

一尺，云此略得唐賢風，斷金片玉餘十一，猶覺精采兼強雄，阿難諾巨肅杖錫，迦陵頻伽

鏗磬鐘，

□39 華天女索手笑，低眉菩薩雙頤豐，誰姓官家作膜拜，冤旒環珮塵埃中，有唐一代佛力盛

，想見施捨勞王公，圖窮乃見寫經字，句奇語重波棱工，一花一佛一偈贊，金薤璀璨珠玲

40 瓏，時清文勝物力富，一技之末無凡庸，優婆 41 夛塞大歡喜，落筆乃與歐虞同，撞鐘吹

螺盛齋設，諸天百鬼紛蛇龍，經幢造象壽金石，日銷月鑠霾蒙茸，藐茲寸楮閱千禩，坐歎

物理殊難蹤，唐碑宋拓世且罕，此書此畫何由逢，嗟余好古生苦晚，去佛彌遠彌痴聾，獅



22

威象猛尌滅沒，異教日夕來牢籠，恒河舍衛佛產地，坐令他族爭祏宗，旁乃斜上滿寰寓，

寶用直欲追斯邕，後之視今復何有，敝帚轉瞬隨秋蓬，元黃戰血禍方始，呼佛不應吾何從

，六道輪迴事恍惚，地獄餓鬼占爻凶，還公此卷三歎息，崦嵫慘淡心憂忡。

丁未臘嘉帄，中實先生觀察令題，江都郭寶珩百遲。

[Poem not translated.] In the la jiaping [twelfth] lunar month of the dingwei year [January 1908],

inscribed at the command of the Surveillance [Commissioner], Mister Zhongshi, by Guo

Baoheng, [courtesy name] Baichi, from Jiangdu.

Signature: 郭寶珩百遲

Guo Baoheng, [courtesy name] Baichi

Date: 丁未臘嘉帄

In the la jiaping [twelfth] lunar month of the dingwei year [January 1908]

Seals: (1)

Guo □『郭□42』 (rectangle relief)

14. Wang Bing’en 王秉恩 (1845–1928)




23

光緒戊申春晚，華陽王秉恩敬觀，兒子文□侍。時寓羊城石桃寄廬。

Late spring in the wushen year of the Guangxu reign period [April 1908], respectfully viewed by

Wang Bing’en from Huayang, with his son Wen-x in attendance. At present, I am residing at the

Shitao Jilu in Yangcheng [Guangzhou, Guangdong Province].

Signature: 王秉恩

Wang Bing’en

Date: 光緒戊申春晚

Late spring in the wushen year of the Guangxu reign period [April 1908]

Seals: (2)

Wang Bing’en yin『王秉恩印』(square intaglio)

Shitao jilu『石桃寄廬』(square intaglio)

Sheet 5: Plus short section. Continuously mounted. Colophons 15–18.


Short section: 31.4 x 10.3 cm

15. Qiu Fengjia 丘逢甲 (1864–1912)

3 columns; running script. Poem (5, 5, 7, 7)

金經已不完，泥犁亦殘墮，茫茫一片匡廬雲，出山遍證人天果。43



24

中實先生令題，逢甲。

[Poem not translated.] Inscribed at the command of Mister Zhongshi [Yi Shunding], by [Qiu]

Fengjia.

Signature: 逢甲

Fengjia

Date: none

Seals: (1)

Meixia sanxian『梅下散以』(square intaglio)

16. Wang Zhaoquan 汪兆銓 (1858–1928)


Poem (8x4)

生滅相尋，不可思議，佛說罷生，我聞如是。經文非缺，畫象非偽，一切真空，方見實際

。戊申四月，番禺汪兆銓題奉中實先生大教。



25

[Poem not translated.] Fourth lunar month in the wushen year [April 30–May 29, 1908], inscribed

by Wang Zhaoquan from Panyu to receive the great instruction of Mister Zhongshi [Yi

Shunding].

Signature: 汪兆銓

Wang Zhaoquan

Date: 戊申四月

fourth lunar month in the wushen year [April 30–May 29, 1908]

Seals: (2)

Wang Zhaoquan guan『汪兆銓觀』(square relief)

Xinbo『辛伯』(square intaglio)

17. Fan Zengxiang 樊增祥 (1846–1931)

25 columns, running-standard script.

Poem (36x7)

諸天龍象失護持，畫紙磔裂如灼龜，蓮臺莊嚴現寶相，獨惜滿月雲蔽虧，諸佛菩薩貌嚴淨

，金剛努目威而慈，座下膜拜盛冠服，和南仰籲秀有詞，殿隅持扇二力士，龍天肅穆如朝

儀，蛟蛇蜿蜒纏棟孙，孔雀金碧輝階墀，畫師在唐特俗手，精細亦非後所為，倘得閻吳施

五采，龍華嘉會尤恢奇，畫後寫經亦唐筆，漏痕釵角呈妍姿，劈實不憾顏清臣，生峭乃於



26

柳得之，此卷舊弆開先孝，孝僧得寶由西陂，二百年來廬山麓，琴樓高與琳孙齊，神畫有

靈交有道，不設蕭翼蘭亭機，昔為文康施僧者，君今反為僧所施，自唐及今歷幾劫，雖有

斷爛無亡遺，願君供奉繡龕上，金題玉踱重裝池，佛將賜君諸善果，一壽二富三康頤，向

君何物報廬嶽，定有眉山[帶玉]香山詩。

注: [帶玉]兩字被點去

。

右《釋迦牟尼佛會圖》歌，仲碩五兄詩家属題，壬子上巳前一日。樊山樊增祥題於滬上，

時年六十有七。

[Poem not translated.] At right is a song for the picture, Assembly of Sakyamuni Buddha Who

Extinguishes Just Rewards, inscribed at the request of the poet, fifth elder-brother Zhongshi [Yi

Shunding], one day before shangsi in the renzi year [May 18, 1912]; inscribed in Hushang

[Shanghai] by Fan Zengxiang from Fanshan, during his sixty-seventh year.

Signature: 樊增祥

Fan Zengxiang

Date: 壬子上巳前一日

One day before shangsi in the renzi year [May 18, 1912]

Seals: (1)



27

Hugong『壺公』(square relief)

18. Xin Yaowen 辛耀文 (1876–1928)

4 columns, running script

光緒丙午曾觀於梁家園姜孛。越七年，癸丑重觀於大吉巷寓齋。劫灰之餘，琴志其寶之。

癸丑臘月初八日，順德辛耀文題。

I had seen [this scroll] during the bingwu year of the Guangxu reign period [1906] at the Jiang

Residence in the Liangjiayuan [neighborhood of Beijing]. Seven years having passed, in guichou

[1913–14], I viewed it again at my residence in Big Luck Lane [Beijing]. May Qinzhi [Yi

Shunding] treasure these remnants from catastrophe. Eighth day of the la [twelfth] lunar month

in the guichou year [January 3, 1914], inscribed by Xin Yaowen of Shunde.

Signature: 辛耀文

Xin Yaowen

Date:

癸丑臘月初八日

Eighth day of the la [twelfth] lunar month in the guichou year [January 3,

1914]



28

Seals:

none

Collector seals: none

Chinese primary sources:

Shinsan Dai Nihon zokuzōkyō 新纂大日本續藏經. 90 vols. Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai 國書刊行

會, 1973–89. Volume 1, no. 21, 408–10.

Song Lao 宋牢 (1634–1713). ―Ti Nixiu shengqi wangsheng jingtu hua juan‖ 題逆修生七往生淨

土畫卷. In Song Lao, Mantang shuhua ba 漫堂書畫跋. In Yang Jialuo 楊家駱, ed. Yishu

congbian 藝術叢編. Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1962. Vol. 25, no. 203, separate pagination, 79–80.

Weng Fanggang 翁方綱 (1733–1818). ―Ba Foshuo shiwang yuxiu jing, Daweide

Chishengguang tuoluoni jing” 跋佛說十王預修經，大威德熾盛光陀羅尼經. In Weng

Fanggang tiba shouzha jilu 翁方綱題跋手本集錄. Comp., Shen Jin 沈津. Guilin: Guangxi shifan

daxue chubanshe,

2002. P. 25

Selected Bibliography



29

Yamanaka Sadajirō 山中定次郎 (1866–1936), comp. Miura Hidenosuke 三浦秀之助, ed. Tō Sō

seika 唐宋精華 (Select Relics of the T’ang and the Sung Dynasties from Collections in Europe

and America). 2 vols. Osaka: Yamanaka shōkai, 1928. Vol. 2 (Beikoku no bu 米国之部), plate 3.

Lawton, Thomas. Chinese Figure Painting. Washington, DC: David R. Godine, in association

Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973. Pp. 91–3.

Ho, Wai-kam (1924–2004). ―Aspects of Chinese Painting from 1100 to 1350.‖ In Wai-kam Ho,

Laurence Sickman (1906–1988) et al. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the

Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The

Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Pp. xxiii– xxxiv.

Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬 (1920–2007), ed. Chūgoku kaiga sōgō zuroku 中國繪畫總合圖錄

(Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings). 5 vols. Tokyo: University of Tokyo,

1982–83. Vol. 1, 200–01 (A21–040).

Zhang Zong 張總. “Yanluowang shouji jing zhuibu yankao‖ 〈―閻羅王授記經‖綴補研考〉. In

Dunhuang Tulufan yanjiu《敦煌吐魯番研究》5 (May 2001): 81–115, esp. 86–87.

Notes



30

1 This scroll is believed to originate in the Later Kingdom of Dali 後大理國 (1096–1253), an

independent principality of the Bai people 白族 with its capital at the city of Dali in western

Yunnan Province.

2 It was evidently a local custom during the Dali kingdom, at least in certain religious contexts, to

incorporate the names of Buddhist deities into personal names, as seen here in the names of the

donors who funded this scroll, Chen Qing 陳慶 and his wife Lian 連, who invoked the

bodhisattvas Guanyin 觀音 and Wenshu 文殊 respectively. See Sun Taichu 孫太初, ―Dali guo

Yanben Zhao Xingming wei wangmu zao zunsheng muchuang ba‖ 大理國彥賁趙興明為亡朮造

尊勝墓幢跋, in Kaogu 考古 82 (1963.6): 338–39.

The use of the final syllable of the father’s given name, Qing 慶, as the first syllable in

the given name of his son, Qingfu 慶福, is also consistent with Yunnanese cultural practice. On

the subject, see Lo Ch’ang-pei 羅常培 (1899–1958), ―The Genealogical Patronymic Linkage

System of the Tibeto-Burman Speaking Tribes,‖ in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 8.3/4

(March 1945): 349–63.



31

3 The unusual designation applied here to the Buddha, miezhengbao 滅札報 (who extinguishes

just rewards)—which is to say, ―grants salvation from deserved punishments‖ to those who

follow his injunctions with true devotion and sincerity—is also found on bricks and tiles from the

Dali kingdom excavated in Yunnan. See Ruan Fu 阮福 (1802– ), Diannan gujinshi lu 滇南古金

石錄 (1822) (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1938), 97–98.

4 This short apocryphal text is more commonly known as Fo shuo yuxiu shiwang shengqi jing《

佛說預修十王生七經》(Sutra Spoken by the Buddha on the Sevens of Life to be Cultivated in

Preparation for [Judgement by] the Ten Kings [of Hell]). The preserved passage comprises

roughly the first one-sixth of the total text. For the full Chinese sutra, which is known under

several names and variants, see: Fo shuo yuxiu shiwang shengqi jing 佛說預修十王生七經, in

Shinsan Dai Nihon zokuzōkyō 新纂大日本續藏經, 90 vols. (Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai 國書刊

行會, 1973–89), volume 1, no. 21, 408–10.

5 For a fully annotated English translation of the sutra, see: Stephen F. Teiser, The Scripture on

the Ten Kings, and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism (Honolulu:

University of Hawaii Press, 1994), 197–219, esp. 197–201 (section on the Freer scroll).

6 The written text employs an archaic form of the character pan 槃 as part of the term banniepan

般涅槃, a Chinese rendering of the Sanskrit parinirvana (spiritual freedom achieved through



32

physical death). The same character appears in two other locations in the following text, where

the modern form has been substituted in the transcription, as here.

7 Available character sets do not include the character written here, which is an arachic form of

ming 冥 (dark, obscure), consisting of a 穴 radical on the top, with a 目 element in the middle,

and a 大 element on the bottom. The same character appears in two other locations in the

following text, where the modern form has been substituted in the transcription, as here.

8 The written form is a variant of the character 来, which in turn is an alternate form of lai 來 (to

come), a form that is used in a subsequent passage of the text.

9 The scholar-official and respected art connoisseur Song Lao 宋牢 (1634–1713) composed the

earliest known colophon for the present scroll. While the manuscript no longer appears on the

scroll itself, its text is recorded in a compilation of his other colophons and inscriptions. In the

recorded text, Song states that he had owned the current scroll for many years and presented it

as a gift to a monk from Kaixian Temple 開先孝, an important Buddhist establishment on

Mount Lu 廬山, who came to visit him in Jiangsu Province where he was serving as governor.

Previously, from 1688 to 1692, Song Lao had been governor in the neighboring province of

Jiangxi (where Mount Lu is located) and had sponsored a major renovation of the Kaixian

Temple in 1689, for which he composed a literary account (Chongxiu Kaixian si beiji 重修開先

孝碑記). At the end of his tour of duty in 1692, Song paid another visit to Mount Lu and the



33

temple, where he composed several poems, before departing for Jiangsu, where he served as

governor for fourteen years (1692 to 1705). While no date appears with the recorded text, the

date of 1695 for Song Lao’s donation of the scroll to Kaixian Temple can be calculated from Wu

Rongguang’s 1821 colophon on this scroll (see Colophon 5), a date that is explicitly confirmed

in a second recorded colophon from 1787 (see note 10, below), both of which were written when

Song Lao’s original text was still attached to the scroll. Of the first eight colophons, dated texts

range from 1789 to 1837, and all were either explicitly or presumably written during visits to

Kaixian Temple. For the text of Song Lao’s missing colophon, see ―Ti Nixiu shengqi

wangsheng jingtu hua juan‖ 題逆修生七往生淨土畫卷, in Song Lao, Mantang shuhua ba 漫堂

書畫跋, in Yang Jialuo 楊家駱, ed., Yishu congbian 藝術叢編 (Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1962), vol.

25, no.

203, separate pagination, 79–80.

10 According to the attached colophon written in 1905 by Yang Shoujing 楊孚敬 (1839–1915)

(see Colophon 10), the remnants that comprise the current painting, sutra, and first eight

colophons on this scroll were acquired directly from Kaixian Temple by the prominent Hunanese

scholar-official and celebrated poet, Yi Shunding 易順鼎 (1858–1920). While Zheng Zuchen 鄭

祖琛 (died 1858) had remounted the already damaged scroll sometime between 1821 and 1837

(see Colophon 6), Kaixian Temple was destroyed by warfare in 1853 and the scroll may have

suffered further harm at that time. While no date is given for his acquisition of the scroll, Yi

Shunding built his famous Qinzhilou 琴志樓 retreat at Mount Lu in 1890 and resided there for

the next two or so years, wandering the mountains, visiting local temples and sites of interest,

and composing poetry. It may have been during this period of self-proclaimed ―reclusion‖ (yin



34

隱 ) that Yi came across the damaged painting and fragments of text. In any case, he clearly

owned the scroll by late 1901, when he brought it to the collector and connoisseur Duanfang 端

方

(1861–1911) for his study and appreciation (see Colophon 9), and he is probably responsible for

the current mounting. All ten of the later colophons were solicited by Yi Shunding from various

friends and experts in a number of locations between 1902 and 1914. In the colophons, he is

generally referred to by his zi 字 (courtesy name), which is variously recorded as: Shifu 實甫 (or

父), 石甫, 碩甫, or Zhongshi 中(or 仲)碩, 仲實, etc., or one of his studio names, such as

Qinzhilou. Yi did not add a colophon of his own to the scroll.

11 In 1787, Weng Fanggang 翁方綱 (1733–1818) composed a colophon for this scroll, and while

the original manuscript is no longer attached, the text is recorded in a collection of his other

inscriptions and colophons. In his recorded colophon, Weng notes that the scroll then included

twelve illustrations, and was accompanied by a second manuscript bearing the text of a second

sutra. He identifies the scroll as the one given by Song Lao to Kaixian Temple on Mount Lu in

the spring of 1695, ninety-two years previously (see note 15, below), and states that in addition

to a Song’s now-missing manuscript, the scroll then included colophons by four of his

contemporaries: You Tong 尤侗 (1618–1704), Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (1645–1719), Cai

Fangbing 蔡方炳 (1626–1709), and Wu Zhizhen 吳之振 (1640–1717). The unidentified

fragment of text that comprises the present Colophon 1 may have been written by one of these

men. For the full text of Weng Fanggang’s colophon, see ―Ba Foshuo shiwang yuxiu jing,

Daweide



35

Chishengguang tuoluoni jing” 跋佛說十王預修經，大威德熾盛光陀羅尼經 (Colophon on the

Sutra Spoken by the Buddha to be Cultivated in Preparation for [Judgement by] the Ten Kings

and the Dharani Sutra of the Magnificent and Virtuous Tejaprabha), in Weng Fanggang tiba

shouzha jilu 翁方綱題跋手本集錄., comp. Shen Jin 沈津 (Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue

chubanshe, 2002), 25. See notes 14–15, below.

12 For the full Chinese text of the Da weide jinlun foding Chishengguang rulai xiaochu yiqie

zainan tuoluoni jing 佛說大威德金輪佛頂熾盛光如來消除一切災難陀羅尼經 (Dharani Sutra

of the Magnificent and Virtuous Golden Wheel Buddha-head, Tejaprabha Tathagata, Who

Dispels All Disasters and Calamities), see Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大札新脩大藏經, eds.

Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郞 and Watanabe Kaikyoku 渡邊海旭, 100 vols. (Tokyo: Taishō

issaikyō kankōkai 大札一切經刊行會, 1924–32[35]), volume 19, no. 964, 338–39. Judging

from

this reference, this second sutra text was still part of the scroll at the time the colophon was

written; see notes 13–14, below.

13 According to the Surangama Sutra (Shoulengyanjing 首楞嚴經), the Ten Habits (shixi 十習)

are the karmic cause for the existence of hell. The Ten Habits are listed as: sexual desire,

craving, arrogance, anger, deceitfulness, lying, resentment, wrong views, unfairness, and

disputation. The specific nature of the transgressions commited in life through each of these

negative habits results directly in the particular punishments that are visited upon the

malefactor in the afterlife as a means of expiation.



36

14 The Six Sense Organs (liugen 六根) are those of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind.

15 This quotation is abbreviated in part from a passage in the Lengyan jing tongyi 楞嚴經通議

(Comprehensive Critique of the Surangama Sutra); see Shinsan Dai Nihon zokuzōkyō, vol. 12,

no. 279, 8:626; which has been used to reconstruct the damaged colophon text. Judging from this

sentence, illustrations of the Ten Kings and the punishments they inflict on the guilty were still

part of the scroll at the time this surviving fragment of a colophon was written. See also note 10,

above, and note 15, below.

16 According to the signature portion, this signed but undated fragment of text by Weng

Fanggang was either a part of his second colophon on the scroll, or a postscript to an earlier

nowmissing colophon. Such a colophon, dated on the ―first day of the eighth lunar month in

the dingwei year of the Qianlong reign period‖ (September 12, 1787), is preserved among

Weng’s collected writings. See notes 10 and 14, above.

17 Here, Weng Fanggang quotes the now-lost colophon of You Tong 尤侗 (1618–1704), whose

cognomen (hao) was Xitang 西堂.

18 While this is the first colophon on the current scroll with a surviving date, it post-dates the

following colophon, which also records a viewing session on Mount Lu.

19 Xie Qikun (1737–1802) was a disciple of Weng Fanggang (1733–1818) and assisted in some

of his scholarly projects. Possibly relevant years with an intercalary fifth lunar-month were



37

gengyin 庚寅 (1770), xinchou 辛丑 (1781), and jiyou 己酉 (1789), with the next such month

only occuring in wuchen 戊辰 (1808), well after Xie’s death. Of these, the most likely year is

1789, especially given the remaining brush strokes of the damaged character preceding run 閏

(intercalary month), and taking into consideration the 1787 date of Weng Fanggang’s missing

colophon that once preceded it on the scroll.

20 Mantang 漫堂 was a cognomen (hao) of Song Lao (1634–1713).

21 This character, written smaller than the others in the column and slightly to the side, indicates

that the preceding character should be read in the level tone.

22 Song Lao’s recorded colophon (see above, note 8) reports that when he originally acquired the

scroll some time before 1695, it bore a title slip attributing the paintings to the Tang dynasty

court artist Yan Liben 閻立本 (ca. 600–674) and giving the title as: Diyu bianxiang tu《地獄

變相圖》 (Transformation Images of Souls in Hell). As Song Lao’s colophon was apparently

missing by the time Duanfang saw the scroll in 1902, his use of this title in reference to the

painting suggests that the old title slip was still present at the time. In fact, the label may still

have been attached to the scroll as late as 1908; see note 42, below.

23 On the otherwise unrecorded monk Cangchuan 藏川—the ostensible author of the sutra text,

or at least the encomia (zan 讚) included in it—and the Daci si 大慈孝 (Great Compassion



38

Temple), also named the Dashengci si 大聖慈孝, established in 756 in Chengdu 成都

(Sichuan Province), see Stephen F. Teiser, The Scripture on the Ten Kings, 8–9 and 69–71.

24 While the Xin Tang shu (New History of the Tang) does record this change in the name and

status of the place in 757, the actual wording quoted here comes from the Jiu Tang shu (Old

History of the Tang). See Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1082) and Song Qi 宋祁 (998–1061) et

al., eds. Xin Tang shu 新唐書 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 42:1079; and for comparison:

Li Xu 李煦 (887–946) et al., eds., Jiu Tang shu 舊唐書 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975),

41:1664.

25 See the chapter ―Mingsheng ji‖ 名勝記 (Record of Famous Sites), in Cao Xuequan 曹學佺

(1574–1646), comp., Shuzhong guangji 蜀中廣記, 2:19a, in WSKQS.

26 Yang Shoujing mistakenly attributes the quotation to the missing colophon of Song Lao, also

known as Mantang, when in fact, the quote comes from the missing colophon of You Tong,

who had the cognomen Xitang. The same quote was previously cited by Weng Fanggang (see

Colophon 2).

27 The short-lived Liang 梁 dynasty (907–923) was ruled by three successive members of the

Zhu 朱 family; hence the term ―Zhu-Liang‖ dynasty, which is used to distinguish it from

other dynasties with the name Liang.



39

28 See Guo Ruoxu 郭若虛 (ca. 1060–1110), Tuhua jianwen zhi 圖畫見聞志, 2:16a, in WSKQS.

29 On the Buddhist Canon inscribed on stone slabs on Fangshan 房山 (Mount Fang), in modern

Beijing Municipality, Hebei Province, see Zhongguo Fojiao xiehui 中國佛教協會, eds.,

Fangshan Yunjusi shijing 房山雲居孝石經 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1978), 3–5, 8-11, and

plates 1–49.

30 See ―Ti Tang Yuzhen gongzhu Liujia jing” 題唐玉真公主《六甲經》, in Yuan Jue 袁桷

(1266–1327), Qingrong jushi ji 清容居士集, 47:1a–b, in WSKQS. On the calligrapher Zhong

Shaojing 鍾邵京 (active 680s–730s), see his biography in Li Xu et al., Jiu Tang shu, 97:3041–

42.

31 For the source of this expression, see Li Daoyuan 李道元 (died 527), Shuijing zhu 水經注,

32:14a, in WSKQS.

32 This expression originates in the chapter Biming 畢命 (Charge to Duke Bi) of the ancient

Shujing 書經 (Classic of History). For text and translation, see James Legge (1815–1897),

trans.,

The Chinese Classics (London: Oxford University Press, 1893), vol. 3, part 2, 592.



40

33 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 缶 on the left and 刂

on the right. It is pronounced fou, and means ―to dig (something) out with a knife‖.

34 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 女 radical at left, and

a 坴 element at right. It is pronounced lu, and is a cognate for ―woman‖.

35 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 髟 radical on top,

and a 籤 element on bottom. It is pronounced ji or jie, and means ―a woman’s small hair coil,

or bun (ji 髻)‖.

36 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 足 radical at left, and

a 詹 element at right. It is pronounced chan, and means ―a horse running swiftly‖.

37 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 門 radical on top,

and a 詹 element on bottom. The character has several pronunciations, including yan and jian,

and means ―the door of a shrine‖.



41

38 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 目 radical at left, and

a 朁 element at right. It is pronounced qian or jian, and means ―to think deeply with closed

eyes‖. 39 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 髟 radical

on top, and a 敄 element on bottom. It is pronounced mao or mou, and means ―bangs, hair

that reaches the eyebrows‖.

40 Available character sets do not include the character written here, which consists of a 王

radical at left, and a 靈 element at right. It is cognate with ling 玲 (the sound of small jades

tinkling or jingling against each other), which has been substituted in the transcription.

41 Available character sets do not include this character, which consists of a 女 radical on the

bottom, and a 浦 element on top. It is cognate with po 婆 (old woman, crone), which has been

substituted in the transcription.

42 This second character is an untranscribable personal cipher (huaya 花押).

43 This quatrain appears among Qiu Fengjia’s 丘逢甲 (1864–1912) collected poems from the

year 1908, with title ―Ti Shifu suo cang Lushan Kaixian si Song Muzhong shi Tangren Diyu

bianxiang tu bing xiejing canjuan” 題實甫所藏廬山開先孝宋牧仲施唐人《地獄變相圖並寫



42

經殘卷》(Inscribed on the damaged handscroll Transformation Images of Souls in Hell and

Accompanying Sutra Manuscript), by an artist of the Tang dynasty, which Song Muzhong (Song

Lao) donated to Kaixian Temple on Mount Lu and is now in the collection of Shifu (Yi

Shunding).‖ See Qiu Fengjia, Lingyunhairilou shichao 嶺雲海日樓詩鈔 (Shanghai: Shanghai

guji chubanshe, 1982), 11:xx. See also note 21, above.

Documents

The Buddha Addressing Yamaraja at Kusinagara€¦ · Magnificent and Virtuous Golden Wheel Buddha-head, Tejaprabha Tathagata, Who Dispels All Disasters and Calamities12 that it does